This week, “backyard science” was considered the next potential disruptor in the pharmaceutical industry, in a controversial article published in Trends in Biotechnology from CellPress Reviews, co-authored by Christopher Boyer, co-Executive Director of Bio-Link. The opinion piece reveals how community biolabs are popping up around the world to create innovative approaches to drug manufacturing. Their aim is to facilitate increased access to drugs for patients who cannot afford to pay high drug prices, and are willing to explore do-it-yourself or “DIY” manufacturing of medicines.

A prominent example of this potential coming wave of DIY medicines is the production of home-brewed insulin, for the treatment of diabetes. The Open Insulin Project, an initiative born out of California, brings together community biolabs around the world, who are focused on making the protocol for insulin production freely available. Unlike Australians who benefit from Government-subsidised medicines, patients in the US do not receive the same high level of reimbursement for drugs such as insulin. Many diabetics cannot afford to pay, and chose to go without the necessary medication. However, if the Project succeeds, pioneering patients could turn to home-brewed insulin to beat the high price of the drug.

In Australia, Sydney is home to a biolab community called BioFoundry, Australia’s first open-access molecular biology laboratory, offering everyday citizens the opportunity to collaborate in scientific research and development. Australia is well known to be a world leader in innovation, and these community biolabs offer non-scientists and early career scientists the opportunity to experiment in the lab to develop new medicines.

You can read more about DIY insulin and the DIYBio movement in the new Trends in Biotechnology article (here) and in a web synopsis published in The Conversation (here).

Please share our story and let us know your thoughts on DIY medicines. We’d love to hear opinions from our followers in Australia and around the world.

BioMelbourne Network held a symposium in August to explore how drug development, and the biotech and pharma sectors more broadly, are changing in the 21st century. Christopher Boyer spoke about commercial strategy approaches in his presentation entitled “De-risking preclinical assets with early human insights; recent advances in human tissue and disease models.” View the slides here.

Bio-Link’s Christos Papadimitriou and Lilly Bojarski have been selected for the MTPCOnnect Bridge Program 2018, which offers strategic professional training to advance skills necessary to boost the commercialisation of Australian innovative research and biotechnologies. Bio-Link is pleased to be represented for a second year, following the inauguration of the initiative in 2017. Learn more about the program here.

Bio-Link has been engaged by FivepHusion Pty Ltd to assist with commercialisation of Deflexifol. FivepHusion has developed Deflexifol, an innovative formulation of 5-FU and leucovorin, as a replacement for the current standard of care in solid tumour indications. A Phase II clinical in colorectal carcinoma trial is planned. To learn more about this opportunity, please click here.

Heptares Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company creating transformative medicines targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has engaged Bio-Link to identify clinical collaborators for clinical studies investigating the role of individual GPCRs in human health and there role in human pathogenesis.

After winning a CCRM Australia grant, Bio-Link’s Dr Lieven Huang is attending the 2017 edition of ‘Business of Regenerative Medicine’ in Toronto, which is focused on the latest in commercialising regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies. The event is co-hosted by the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) and the Rotman School of Management. More information about the event here.

Bio-Link is engaged by a client to scout for Australian therapeutics programs with antibodies and antibody-like drugs. All stages of development are considered, both within academia (e.g. Garvan Institute’s Centre for Targeted Therapies) and industry (e.g. CSL). The scouting results are likely to be shared with the global pharma industry, which might boost commercial R&D activities in Australia. Names of research groups or companies can be submitted below.
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